Lion King saw all of Emrys' actions, and after Zabriel finished speaking, he nodded in silent approval, saying, "This matter is very complicated. You must handle it carefully and not let it escalate."
After saying this, Lion King unbuckled the 'Lion Sword' from his waist and handed it to him.
"Take this. In times of need, it can protect you from death."
This was equivalent to Lyon's promise.
No matter what happened to him after entering the hive city, Lion King guaranteed that he would never be in danger.
"Thank you, Lion King."
Emrys didn't stand on ceremony, reaching out to take the Lion Sword. The heavy blade forced him to use all his strength just to keep it from falling to the ground.
The sword perfectly fit Lyon's height and arm span, but for Emrys, it was almost a 'greatsword'.
Then, in front of Lyon, he stored the 'Lion Sword' in his personal space and turned to Zabriel.
"You will accompany me on this visit to the hive city."
As a Rogue Trader, it should be reasonable to bring a Space Marine, right?
"Yes, lord."
Zabriel agreed readily.
Subsequently, Emrys and Zabriel, who had changed into different armor, arrived at the designated location and met the team sent by governor Hal to welcome them.
It was roughly a full company of Astra Militarum, at least on the surface; there were likely more hidden.
"Viscount Emrys, we are here to welcome you on governor Hal's orders."
The leading Astra Militarum officer vigilantly watched the Space Marine in power armor beside him.
Of course, they weren't overly worried.
After all, there was a full company of Astra Militarum here; a single Space Marine couldn't cause a major upheaval.
"Viscount Emrys, please hand over your weapons to us," the Astra Militarum officer said honestly.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble."
Emrys wasn't annoyed, unbuckling the sword and pistol from his waist and handing them over to the other party.
"As promised, these are my weapons."
Zabriel also unbuckled his chainsword, bolter, grenades, and other weapons, handing them over to the other party to prove that he posed no threat.
The Astra Militarum officer's expression improved considerably, and he smiled, "Thank you for your cooperation, sir."
However, when they were brought into the hive city, they did not go directly to see governor Hal, but were instead arranged in a luxurious mansion in the upper hive, not far from the governor's Palace.
"Viscount Emrys, governor Hal needs to command operations these past few days due to the invasion of Chaos scum. Please wait a few days. shadows of Chaos cults are everywhere in the hive city, so please do not wander around to avoid any danger." After the Astra Militarum officer finished speaking, he waved his hand.
"You all take good care of Viscount Emrys."
After speaking, he left directly, without waiting for Emrys.
At this moment, Zabriel noticed that a full company of Astra Militarum was deployed around their mansion. These people were clearly monitoring them!
In other words, they were under house arrest!
Emrys, however, didn't seem to care much, his demeanor calm and composed, as if he had completely forgotten the mission he was carrying.
But Zabriel was a bit anxious.
"Lord, are we just going to wait like this?" His tone held a hint of urgency.
Although he didn't care about the life and death of the Dark Angels on the Rock Fortress, he cared about the Rock Fortress itself, as it was, after all, the last surviving 'home'!
It was known that the black Crusade of Chaos, led by Warmaster Abaddon, was approaching the Rock Fortress, and they were still sitting here. How could Zabriel endure it?
"Then what do you propose to do?"
Emrys picked up his teacup, blew on it, his expression serene, and asked in a gentle tone.
"We'll just fight our way in!"
A fierce look appeared on Zabriel's face.
"I've observed the defenses here; they're not enough to stop us. We'll directly break into the governor's Palace, abduct her, and then explain the situation!"
"Good idea."
Emrys didn't even lift an eyelid, saying indifferently.
"If we really do that, even if we haven't defected to Chaos, you'll have forced us into Chaos. Do you really think the Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus in orbit are fools? Or do you think this governor Hal is an idiot?"
Zabriel was stunned.
"Are you saying—she's deliberately testing us?"
"Although we haven't had much contact, the fact that this governor Hal can gain supreme command among the Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus to resist the Chaos fleet is enough to prove that she is by no means an idiot; otherwise, she couldn't have achieved this."
At this point, Emrys put down his teacup and looked at Zabriel.
"Moreover, don't forget, our ostensible reason for coming to governor Hal is to ask for the fleet to rest and refit, but our true goal is to recruit an army for Lion King and integrate the forces of Avacalon, not to cause internal strife or conduct a purge here."
"So we just wait like this?"
Zabriel felt a bit wronged.
"I don't deny that you are an excellent warrior, but—" Emrys shook his head and sighed.
"You will never know how low humanity's bottom line can truly be—and that, is politics."
In essence, it meant they lacked the necessary 'violent deterrence'.
Lion King alone, without his identity being verified, would find it difficult to deter a planetary lord, an Imperial governor, a high-ranking official of the Imperium.
Reality is not a movie, nor is it a novel.
It's not about a few words, a sudden surge of regal aura, that will make a planetary lord or Imperial governor willingly bow down and hand over their armies and power.
Lion King can kill ten thousand people, but can he kill a hundred thousand?
Moreover, Avacalon is resisting Chaos; at least in terms of stance, they are all aligned. Internal conflict would only allow Chaos to succeed, which is a result Emrys and Lion King do not wish to see. Therefore, this matter must be resolved in a gentle manner.
They need a large fleet for their expedition to the Rock Fortress, something Emrys cannot achieve alone. He can conscript millions of troops from other Worlds, but he cannot acquire 'warships'.
Don't assume that these seemingly ancient and backward ships have low value. If they were really that easy to build, with the resources of five Worlds, Emrys would have had an entire expeditionary fleet long ago!
The Devourers's warships are formidable enough, right?
But if they clashed head-on with the Imperial Navy, they would be riddled with lance and macro-cannon fire in minutes.
The reason is actually very simple: the Devourers's warships need to adhere to 'physical laws', but Imperial warships—sorry, they don't need to adhere to physical laws; they primarily operate on sheer brute force!
Paper statistics are one thing; actual combat capability is another. These are two separate matters.
Therefore, the only ones who can gather a large fleet are governor Hal and the Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus forces stationed there.
But how to get them to agree?
Emrys' method of going on a killing spree on Vigilus clearly wouldn't work here.
Even a legend like Chapter Master Karlgar, when dealing with the complex political situation on Vigilus, first concealed his identity, and after clarifying the facts, relied on his personal guard to achieve a clean sweep.
In other words.
Lion King's identity and value can be a trump card in negotiations, or the final straw that breaks the camel's back, but it must never be played as the first card, directly revealed!
To put it simply, you throw out a royal flush at the start, thinking you can intimidate the opponent.
But little do you know, your biggest trump card is gone, and you lose the initiative, so the outcome can only be a loss.
This is precisely what Emrys meant: Zabriel might be a qualified and excellent warrior, but he is by no means a qualified politician.
Lion King understood this, so he appointed him to act as a fuse in the three-way struggle between the Returning Primarch and Avacalon.
He himself, as the final trump card, could ensure to the greatest extent that Emrys' and Avacalon's struggles and power grabs would not escalate into internal strife.
To integrate Avacalon's resources and seize these fleets in the most peaceful way possible, resolving the current predicament without depleting their own forces.
Achieving this is both difficult and not difficult.
Emrys already had a rough idea in his mind. Now he just needed to wait for an opportunity and figure out who were friends and who were enemies in the complex situation of Avacalon.
"I just hope that when the time comes, you won't blame my methods for being too 'radical'—"